Happy Boots and Purple Fringed Orchids in Allegan County!

On Monday July 17 2017, Marie and I took a trip to one of our favorite sites, Happy Boots!  A wet, muddy, jungle of a forest in the Allegan State Game Area.  It never disappoints! 
We saw 12 Purple Fringed Orchids blooming, I'm sure there were more than 12 but they are not always easy to find in this green tangle of a maze.  But they are so fun to find.
First here is a look at the place.

 Happy Boots

The plants you see here are Lizard's Tail (Saururus cernuus).  The Purple Fringed Orchid enjoys hiding among these Lizard tails.

 

And below are the Purple Fringed Orchids.

 Here are some other things I found interesting on this trip.

 

 Moth - Haploa clymene

 Wild Leek blooming, the leaves of this plant come up very early in spring but the leaves die away and now it blooms!  Just a stem coming right out of the dirt with the flower.

 Here at Sand Creek, there was a small bridge but it was replaced recently with this culvert. 

 Helleborine Orchid (Epipactis helleborine) a non-native but still quite pretty.

 There were many of these guys flying around.  Very friendly.

 This is one of Marie's and my favorite wildflowers, Heal All (Prunella vulgaris).  From above the plant, then straight on.  I think the flowers look like tiny orchids.

 

 And then we found Monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens)  Figwort family,  blooming.  It use to bloom near the bridge but that area was destroyed when the culvert was put in, luckily the plant found a new home.

 

 Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)  This is a wildflower, not a mushroom or fungus.

 Spotted Touch-Me-Not, also called Jewelweed, (Impatiens capensis)

 

Another Purple Fringed Orchid, just hanging out in the woods.

 I spotted these little fungus on this tree, taking a closer look they are tiny mushrooms of some sort.

 
We saw a few butterflies, moths, and dragonflies - this one below just stopped fluttering for a second on this leaf.

 

 

 This was just another of our fun outings in the woods.  I have so many more great trips to tell you about, soon I hope.

Manistee - Day Two

June 28 2011 We were up a 6 a.m., no hurries, no worries.  Coffee and breakfast on the front porch.  We left the cabin around 9, heading for the Manistee River Trail.  We are going to start at the "waterfall" going north on South 1 Road then west on Forest Road 7120.

I had to brake along the road when I saw purple, right away I knew it was Viper's Bugloss.

From the gate we walked to the river then south, looking for some river flats.  There are many small footbridges along this trail. 

 We  identified Shinleaf (Pyrola Family).

On a very steep hillside facing the river we saw Showy Lady's Slipper.  Totally inaccessible.
Soon we got to the flats and I showed Marie the Indian Paintbrush that Mike and I had seen here in mid June.

Then I was right on the edge of the river when I found an orchid.  It was pale green and slender.  Marie used her wisdom and her Newcomb's Wildflower Guide and dubbed it a Tubercled Orchid!

A kingfisher chattered down the river, frogs were jumping, butterflies flitted about.

I think this is a Pearl Crescent, going by my recently acquired

 Butterflies of Michigan by Jaret C. Daniels. 

Here are a few other things we found on the river flats.

A rough looking Showy Lady's Slipper

                                     Black-eyed Susan

                             Webs with dew

            Harebell, getting ready to open.

                              Common St. Johnswort

Our old friend, Prunella vulgaris, commonly known as Selfheal or Heal-all.

What a cool place, so many things to see!

We needed to head for home, about a two hour drive,

back to the real world.